King Mackerel Fishing Closed 02-06 2011

Southeast Fishery Bulletin
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505

February 4, 2011
Susan Gerhart or Susan.Gerhart@noaa.gov
FB11-012
727/824-5305, FAX 727/824-5308

Closure of the Western Gulf of Mexico Zone:
Commercial King Mackerel Fishing

The western Gulf of Mexico zone is closed to
commercial king mackerel fishing, effective 12:00 noon
(local time) February 11, 2011, through June 30, 2011.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has
determined the 2010/2011 western zone commercial
quota of 1.01 million pounds of king mackerel has been
reached. With this action, commercial king mackerel
fishing is prohibited in federal waters of the Gulf of
Mexico from the U.S./Mexico border to the
Alabama/Florida boundary.
Closure of the western Gulf of Mexico zone to
commercial king mackerel fishing complies with
regulations implemented under the Fishery Management
Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic and is necessary to
protect the Gulf group king mackerel resource. In
cooperative actions, Gulf states (Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama) are expected to close
commercial harvest of king mackerel concurrently in
adjoining state waters.
During the closure period, no person aboard a vessel for
which a commercial permit for king mackerel has been
issued may fish for or retain king mackerel in or from
federal waters of the closed zone.
There is one
exception, however, for a person aboard a charter vessel
or headboat. A person aboard a vessel that has a valid
charter/headboat permit for coastal migratory pelagic
fish and a commercial king mackerel permit may
continue to retain king mackerel in or from the closed
subzone under the two-fish daily bag limit, provided the
vessel is operating as a charter vessel or headboat.
Charter vessels or headboats that hold a commercial king
mackerel permit are considered to be operating as a
charter vessel or headboat when they carry a passenger
who pays a fee or when more than three persons are
aboard, including operator and crew.
During the closure, no king mackerel caught in the
closed zone may be purchased, bartered, traded, or sold.
This includes recreational and tournament-caught fish.
The prohibition of sale, however, does not apply to trade
in king mackerel that were harvested, landed ashore and
bartered, traded, or sold before the closure and held in
cold storage by a dealer or processor.
If you would like to receive these fishery bulletins via e-
mail as soon as they are published, e-mail us at:
SERO.Communications.Comments@noaa.gov.
This bulletin provides only a summary of the
information regarding the existing regulations. Any
discrepancies between this bulletin and the regulations
as published in the Federal Register will be resolved in
favor of the Federal Register.

New Rules; Commercial Grouper in Florida Out!

New Rules; Commercial Harvesting Grouper in Florida

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Thursday has allowed itself to propose new rules for the recreational and commercial harvest of grouper in Gulf of Mexico, Florida State waters. The proposed rules follow up on interim measures taken earlier this year, by your friends and mine over on the Gulf Council under EDF and its slave NOAA, run by overseer Dr Jane Lubchenco; A Puppet of Puppets and will match state grouper rules with pending federal regulations and you thought they wouldn't? The goal of the new rules are to improve populations of gag grouper so that quality fishing continue into the future, at least that is what they were miming.

A recent series of federal and state actions addresses overfishing of gag grouper in the Gulf by reducing fishing pressure, through sector separation and catch shares, are in our masters mind the solution to achieve gag grouper harvest reductions of 41-42 percent for the commercial fishery and 26 percent for the recreational fishery, through a combination of fishing season and area closures, annual harvest quota and bag limit adjustments and other measures. It is the other measures that scare the bejewels out of me! These proposed new rules would establish a Feb. 1 through March 31 closed spawning season for all recreational and commercial harvest of shallow-water groupers (gag, black, red, yellow-fin, scamp, yellow-mouth, rock hind and red hind) in all Gulf state waters. This proposed two-month closure, in Gulf state waters, would extend the current one-month commercial closed season for gag, red and black grouper. This way they can put more anglers out of business and we maybe out to change the state motto of “Fishing Capital of the World”, to Florida Home to NO FISHING HERE ANYMORE, go to the market, if your looking to get some fish! The intent of this closure is to limit the catch of gag grouper by closing harvest to all similar shallow-water grouper species during the spawning season. Sounds good but the rule is a bit dry.

These new rules would also decrease the daily recreational aggregate bag limit for all shallow-water groupers from five fish to four fish per person. In addition, the proposed rules would reduce the commercial minimum size limit for Gulf red grouper from 20 inches, to 18 inches total length. This will significantly reduce the number of 18- to 20-inch fish that do not survive upon release. Again, holding no water, what about the one under 18 inches in length? Once they are 18-20 there is a problem but as a juvenile, hooks don't catch or what is the point? A final public hearing on these rule proposals will take place during the next FWC public meeting in Crystal River in June. Are they to get an ear full from me! They ought to from you too. For more info on these new idea to rules, here is from the last meet, as to which these NEW IDEAS are from; 2009? Now that ain't no fresh fish, anyway you slice it!

http://myfwc.com/docs/CommissionMeetings/2009/2009_Apr_10B_GulfRedandGagGrouper_Final_Update2B.pdf

On the Lighter side but it is the Law!

Gulf Grouper Closed
Recreational harvest of shallow-water grouper in the Gulf of Mexico closed Feb. 1 through March 1 on Florida's Gulf Coast, except in Monroe County. The two-month closure coincides with grouper spawning season. The closure includes red, yellow-fin, scamp, yellow-mouth, rock hind and red hind grouper. Gag grouper already closed Jan. 1.
Trout are Out!
Trout season in Northeast Florida closed Tuesday, Feb. 1, for a month. The closure includes all waters north of the Flagler/Volusia County line on the east coast and on the Gulf side, north of the Fred Howard Park Causeway, located about 1.2 miles south of the Pinellas/Pasco County lines. The season reopens March 1.

New Florida Grouper Rules in Effect...

A set of new regulations went into effect May 25, 2009 regarding the harvest of reef fish in Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Fishery managers at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council ended two years of debate and deliberation by establishing the following regulations for recreational anglers:

Aggregate grouper bag limit is reduced to four fish per person per day

Red grouper bag limit is increased to two fish per person per day

Gag bag limit is decreased to two fish per person per day

Grouper season will be closed for all of February and March for all shallow-water grouper species